Messages

 Thaomas, I think you have identified a problem that 95% of the members/people that come to this Forum or AP in general have in common.

Many times you will hear, I got out, but it only lasted a few seconds or I shifted but only momentarily.

To stay longer, you need to "ground" yourself there. William's advise on stating out loud "this is a Dream" helps you to become aware. But that's only half the battle. You must then ground yourself to whatever "other realm/destination" you find yourself in. To ground yourself you have to let go of all of your "analytical" thinking and just "be" in that moment. Let go of time, just let go period.

Like you said, "a full blown astral projection can be halted by a single thought of the body". But it's not halted by thinking of your current "other realm" body. Pick something up, try to touch something. What do you hear, what do you smell?. You need to engage yourself completely in your new environment.

From a LD it's easy because all you need to do is become aware, then just stay where you are and enjoy the adventure. The problem comes when you try to change things and then your "analytical" mind takes over, next you find yourself back here in this physical realm again and awake.

It takes a lot of practice to be able to prolong the "other realm" adventures. But it can be done. That's why I created techniques like "the Doorway" and why I enjoy exercises that have me doing simple things with my "etheric body". It helps me get so used to that conscious state or state of consciousness so much that it becomes second nature to me.

During a conscious Phase session I will begin and yes, I feel the onset of "sign posts". But the deeper I get involved with my exercises the less I sense or should I say I "think" about my physical body at all. I am completely in the moment. That's what I mean when I say you need to be "all in". Sure I have many times where I am interrupted by something. It could be a sneeze, cough, itch or even an external sound coming from my immediate area here. But if I wish, I can return to back to my NP focus again. Other times I might have a hard time getting into the flow of things and when this happens I just abort it for the day. No harm no foul. The astral will still be there tomorrow.

I will tell you though, when I was new, it was 1 step forward 2 steps back. Sometimes even 3 or 4 steps back, lol. Next hurdle I had was all the "flitting/jumping" around. Then I was told to just passively observe everything with an air of curiosity. Actually, that's almost word for word for what my "guide/higher self" had said. After that it became easier to do.

So yes I would get to 3 on your scale and the next thing I knew I was back at 1 or even 0 again. A week later it got better and I might go from 5, then find myself back down at 2. It got frustrating. It was like walking a "tightrope"! The funny thing is though, my first conscious AP that I had while using a simple candle staring technique got me all the way to 10 and out. I actually had more problems with conscious projection the more I learned about it.

This is where my earlier Journaling really helped. When I found myself "blocked" for a couple of months in a row, I would go back to what had got me results in the first place. I read books and listened to videos on the subject, as I do today, but I use/d the new info to hone my own techniques and I still fine tune them even more today. In the end, who knows you better than you!  

Do you have any advice on how to start moving any part of my body?

Bedeekin hasn't posted on the Astral Pulse Forum here for a couple of years now. But he is greatly missed.  

So, I will attempt to answer this from my own experiences and point of view.

Put/direct your entire focus on wiggling your toes and your "impulse" will take over and move them. I would say if that doesn't work, then see where the SP leads, as in project. If you can't stop it, I would take that as a sign that you should see it through. Meaning there must be a good reason behind it.

Those couple images I saw last night had a more 3D quality than my usual imagination projects.

That's the progress I am speaking of. The 3D imagery shows you you "are" projecting.

So your saying all this AP stuff is just trying to focus, keeping your attention on, and concentrating on what is in your minds eye until it becomes real? Or from a physical standpoint, until it is perceived as real?

You are trying to achieve a non physical focus "until" the scene becomes "real" Example, I start out shooting an imaginary basketball. Pretty soon I see a hoop that the ball is going in. Then I see the person who that is passing the ball back to me. Pretty soon I am in a game of 5 on 5.

Do you see my point here? All I did was start with the simple repetitive act of shooting an imaginary ball into the darkness before my eyes. The rest of just morphed into my vision. I didn't question it. I didn't look back to see what my physical body was doing. I just joined the scene at hand and enjoyed it. I left the questions for later.

 Bluebird, here's a good simple exercise that you can practice daily. This will eventually teach you how to have conscious projection from a totally awakened state.

Pick any "simple" visual target or tactile sensation that you wish. You don't want to make it complicated or complexed at all. Close your eyes and feel or see it. Hold that sensation or visual as long as you can. When it disappears, bring it back.  Do this for 10 cycles. Now write down your results.

Tomorrow you are going to do the same thing, but this time you will hold your focus there longer. The next day longer. Write down what you are experiencing, no matter how trivial you think they may be.

In the beginning you will be able to hold your "complete" focus on your chosen task for only a couple of seconds. After a week, maybe a minute. But then you will find it gets easier and now when you close your eyes, something is already there.

After a couple of weeks when you do this, if the scene you choose starts to "morph" into something else, go with the flow. Just passively observe whatever new is happening and allow it to bring you deeper.

This really helps you open your mind to other forms of awareness as well. Like for instance why I used the analogy above about famed Guitarists. On some level I knew you would understand that.  

I'm a little confused at what the state of mind needs to be to project. I kind of thought you needed to be somewhat asleep and that along with some kind of visualizations was the difference between meditation and AP.

It sounds more like AP can occur with just meditation and some sort of imagining. I'm just realizing this after reading your and Astralsuzy's replies.

Is it just that there is a loophole in the state between waking and sleep where you can accidentally project? Making it more accessible for people who haven't put in all the concentration work that someone who can just sit in a chair and shift they're focus has?

The "state of mind" you should have is just to create and maintain a focus outside of this physical reality. Meditation is a great way. From what I understand from people that teach meditation, it is important to quiet the mind. But they also teach that when you get "hypnagogic imagery", that you should ignore it and stay in the moment. When I attempt to project anytime I see any imagery I allow it to build and take me deeper. I never fight it. The deeper it brings you, the less focus you have on your physical body.

Some people do experience a "conscious loophole". This could be known as "mind awake/body asleep", which is what you are trying to do to project in general. To do that you simply stay consciously aware as your physical body goes to sleep.


A accidental conscious projection can be initiated by inducing a bout of SP. To do this you have a "dreamless" one hour pre-nap about 3 hours before you go to sleep. This will interrupt your REM sleep and cause you become more aware. You will then awaken in SP about 3-4 hours after you go to sleep. Sometimes that SP can come quicker then that though.
Bedeekin spoke about this method in this thread here. He calls it "Pre-Sleep Induction".
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/fantastic_obe_technique_bedeekins_method-t31819.0.html

 Hello Bluebird and welcome!

it sounds like "Wave 1" CD isn't working for you. Time to find a new technique. Have a look around this Forum, there are some great techniques to aid you in losing your physical focus. If you are good with visuals, this link will give you some helpful exercises. I find that practicing being "non physical" period during the day can be very productive with the Art of Projection.

There are other great links in this thread to help you as well. http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/the_doorway-t46013.0.html

Lastly, what really stuck out to me from our initial post was this line  "I don't keep a journal as I wake up early for work and don't have enough time. I know I could make the time but..."

Now what would happen if Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton or Jimmy Hendrix would have said "I know I could make the time but"? People can and will always make the time if they are truly serious about their Art.   This is all mental conditioning. Anything that happens while you attempt to project is positive progress.

I found great success when I was new by just staring at a "candle flame" for 15-20 minutes in a dark room. I then blew the candle out, shut my eyes and just noticed the "imprint" of that flame in my visual. If it disappeared, as it would, I would bring it back. The next thing I knew my body was vibrating and I could swear a Helicopter was landing on my roof, the sound was that loud. It scared me, but I couldn't wait to do it again.

The next time I attempted to AP, I used the same visual and soon I was looking at my room or a representation of it with my eyes completely closed. I did this all by sitting in a comfortable chair. I never attempted to AP from my bed in my when I was new to consciously aware projection. But, I have had many many bouts of SP and have exited my body during those.

 Marjorie Hines Woollacott was on Coast to Coast AM last night. She is a NeuroScience Professor that also meditates. It was an excellent interview. Here is link to her bio.
http://marjoriewoollacott.com/about/bio/

Her research on Human consciousness is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

In her interview she spoke of the time the Dali Lama was invited to speak at a NeuroScience conference and that many of the researches were quite upset about it. The Dali Lama teamed up with Stanford University and funded a project there that launched a new research center studying how the brain deals with compassion and altruism.

If you wish to hear any interviews by Marjorie you can go to her website here to hear them. They are free. She has also written a book based on her observations: http://marjoriewoollacott.com/news-events/news/

Hey Lumaza, was your video on candle gazing and projection something along these lines?? It is interesting to note that yogi's refer to candle gazing as a cleansing practice and have been doing it for thousands of years, and it is linked to siddhis (psychic mind powers), which include OBE's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3M-LuTRfcI

Yes, but it was a much simpler version of that video. He made a different ones with just the basics in the past. The one you posted above has too much "clutter" in it. He could have just kept it simple, but in that one, he talks about too many things that aren't necessary in the Art of Astral Projection. But the main idea of just watching a "candle flame burning" is still there.

I find also that blocking out light by rolling your eyes back (Someone else suggested this to me! ) helps too. Of course, don't roll them back too far, or you'll hurt them!

Yes, definitely don't roll them too far back. That can cause a bad headache.

As for me, I usually meditate by visualizing a candle, then letting it flow out into other thoughts. (Reason i do so is because my first true meditation session used a video of a candle for stimulation)

I had my first actual conscious projection after watching a video on "Candle staring", them applying what he said. I still use a simple visualized candle flame imagery today. Sometimes the simplest of techniques can yield great results.

 There is new research on "consciousness" that shows that current scientific understandings and theories of consciousness may be flawed.

I just found this link on another Forum, courtesy of a member there named "broken". It's funny because the word "broken" definitely fits the  past scientific views of consciousness in general! 

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/leading-theory-about-how-consciousness-works-may-be-wrong

 Magick and also Prayer are based totally on focused will and intent.

In the "other realms" thought = action, so it is very easy to see almost instant results of a focused will and intent there.

...as Bluefire and Szaxx have said above though, it takes a lot of practice, training and a strong will to achieve in this physical realm. You have to be "all in" with your belief to achieve success with this here.

 You know Ewok, you could also look at this in a positive way. Perhaps your "higher self/guardian Angel" (whatever name you prefer), is trying
to stop you from smoking period. 

To paint is beautiful, but to paint painters that can learn how to paint too, to paint beautiful things... woahh... Beautiful - God idea -

That's the definition of "evolution" in a nutshell! 

 Just to add to Lightbeam's amazing post here. The Bible can be interpreted in different ways. The Bible is also not the whole story. Many details were left out of it. The Bible was written from a menagerie of transcripts from that time period.

Did you know that other cultures of other time periods have stories of a Great Flood as well? This is just one example of the Bible not being all there is of the truth, per say.

My only question has always been "What happens if some day it is proven that we were created by Extraterrestrials?" Will we respect them as what we call God/s?

I think the doorway is an excellent idea.  The doorway is written well.    It gives people something to practice and to focus.   I am sure everyone appreciates this thread.   

Thank You Suzy for your kind words. I created this thread after going through my Astral Journals and finding pattern emerging. The colors, the shapes, these are all basic things that I first experienced when I attempted to project consciously aware.

 I find that the only time I get stuck is when I get in the way of the natural transition during Sleep Paralysis. Getting in the way can happen by becoming "too" aware and trying to "force" it.

Now when I awaken in SP I just lie there and await what's next. If nothing happens, I just go back to sleep. It's a bonus when it leads to a full separation.

In a nutshell - WBTB method. Study it and apply it. Look for Stephen LaBerge presentation in his book - Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming.

When I had many lucid dreams I was practically thinking it all day - doing reality checks, writing my dreams every day, having anchors - the ones that you see in your dream repeatedly so you can wake yourself up in the dream when you see one, doing WBTB. I was "infused" with the idea of lucid dreaming. So I had many in that time.

I like that line "I was "infused" with the idea of Lucid Dreaming". I find "brain entrainment/subconscious programming", whatever name you want to call it very important to continued success with this and any Art/activity you wish to undertake in life. It shows your "higher self" that you are ready for this and open to it at this time in your personal evolution.

All in all I'm very encouraged by this, given that I didn't have any strong intention of becoming lucid, hadn't been using any of the techniques in daily life to induce lucid dreams, and that my lucidity didn't seem to be dependent on any particularly striking circumstances in the dream.

You did on a "subconscious" level though. You picked up Jurgen's new book and read it. Sometimes that's all it takes. Many people report having spontaneous OBEs/LDs after just hearing a interview or talk on AP itself period.

Dr. Albert Taylor talks about this in his interview with Art Bell here from October 2013. I love this man's passion for AP. He makes AP sound fun again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Xl9a7qMAY

Subconscious instant programming, not easy to find words to explain but you get an amazing experience from it.

Szaxx, I would love to hear more about this "subconscious instant programming" that you are talking about. Hopefully you are going to be making a thread based on that idea soon.

Projector4life, my 3 ways are similar if not exactly like yours.
1. By spontaneous OBE. This during occurs during SP and I exit my physical body from my feet or legs. The path out of my home seems to be the same as well. I had mentioned before that I shoot down my hall and out my patio window. But that it is weird why his path is used, when my bedroom window is only 4 feet away from my bed and the wall even closer.
2. By Phasing. Simple shift from here to there while completely consciously aware the entire time.
3. By Lucid Dream
  ...and now to a 4th kind. It seems like instead of an exit, it is a entry of some kind. Meaning, I am not going out, something is coming in. This occurs spontaneously during the night and what I feel is a overwhelming energy sensation in my head, kind of like it's exploding. I then receive some kind of download/upload. This "message" or info/data looks akin to some kind of "ancient cuneiform". When I first began to see it I did research on any ancient cuneiform that has been found as of yet and nothing matched what I see. It was close, but the symbols I was being shown in my experiences were different.

I realize that each one of these falls under the title of "non physical states of consciousness". But they each seem to lead to the same locations and experiences. This is what I question. I have never questioned whether they are a NP experience or not. I just question where they lead. I keep full Journals on my adventures. I am very active with all 4 of these events. The 4th kind time happens about 5 or 6 times a year now. But I see patterns. Enough patterns to show me a "blueprint" of sorts.

Hi,

If one is in a sleep paralysis state is it possible to project to the Etheric dimension with enough effort?

Thanks

Simple answer, yes. With me this happens spontaneously from awaking in full sleep paralysis. I normally shoot out of my feet/legs, down the hallway and out my patio window. But it's kind of confusing because my bedroom window is only 4 feet away from my bed!

[through]

  However, extremely arrogant.  What's that saying about making assumptions?   

No, it's the truth. I wouldn't understand it unless I had experienced it for myself either.

Clearly, what I'm suggesting means that I've never experienced what YOU are talking about.  Clearly that is the case, right?
Yup, let's entertain people's experiences... unless Xanth shares his... right?

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bruise anyone's ego. I was just stating what I have experienced. All too often I see a conversation like this beginning and then you state your belief and the conversation is dead right then and there. People feel threatened by it. I know because they tell me they do.

How about we stop assuming and let people say their opinions... and leave it at that? 
Sometimes everyone isn't against you, they just have different experiences and have come to their conclusions through what you've already experienced.

I agree completely. I began my last post with the fact that I wished to keep this conversation civil. No one "else" is against me that I can see. I realize people come to their own conclusions. But they do that from experiencing these things for themselves. I would hope no one is adapting their belief from what I say. I just wanted to know how many other people experience the same thing or similar experience that I do. I felt that by posting here in this thread what I experience, that someone else would come and share their own personal experience with this as well.

This entire thread was made for conversation on bodily/physical exit points that people may experience, not the lack of them. You stated in your first post that "there is only one exit point...you simply phase from here to there". Then the thread died. I simply stated what I had experienced. I'm sure that Fred Aardema and other AP Authors would have gladly piped in here. Fred teaches these things in his book "Explorations in Consciousness". Robert Peterson gave his book high accolades because of the way Fred explains the actual physical OBE experience. Robert is another famed Author that speaks and teaches of OBEs from a bodily separation.

Like I said above, I have and still do experience APs from a simple shift here to there. But I also get them spontaneously from actual bodily exit points. For quite a while I adapted Tom Campbell's thinking on this. But then I questioned if I was "all in" on his theories, why did I still experience actual real time OBEs. Something wasn't adding up. So yes, it made me look for other answers. Have I found them yet, no. I don't think I ever will. But that doesn't keep me from actively pursuing them. 

 Daily exercises are a great way to "entrain' yourself to AP. They show that you are willing to go the extra mile. I find they really help with getting your conscious and subconscious mind in sync.

I enjoy the Doorway exercises and any of the other links found on that thread. I change my exercises quite a bit. Sometimes you are in the mood for something new. http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/the_doorway-t46013.0.html

Today I was trying two different things that worked well. One of them was just trying to feel the space around me and meld with it. I did this one while listening to Tom Kenyon's "A Bridge Between the Worlds" meditation.

The other one I started doing a couple of days ago and this one involved just closing my eyes and creating a circuit of energy that surrounded my body. To do this I started at one point and moved the energy around my body slowly. I was following the contours of my outer body. Once I had a couple of circles/revolutions completed, I began spiraling the area outwards. Meaning, by the time I was done this, the circles around me were being done at a good distance away. Instead of spiraling inwards, I was spiraling outwards. I guess inwards would have worked as well. I'll have to experiment with that. At first this created a sensation of dizziness or vertigo. But that soon subsided.

 Tonight while listening to Tom Kenyon's 12 minute meditation named "A Bridge Between the Worlds", I experienced another signpost that I remember experiencing a couple of times before. This one we can call #20 and it has to do with pulsating lights. They weren't bright. The light seemed to come in waves, but it was definitely moving forward towards me. This could have also been something from the other realms. I thought of it as a symptom or signpost because it started almost immediately.

In this meditation, Tom says to just be aware of the space around you. He also says that with further practice you can just be that point of view. I have experienced the feeling of being a point of consciousness before many times. But this pulsation seemed to be a rarity to me.

Here's a link to his 12 minute meditation. Just relax and "be". https://tomkenyon.app.box.com/s/vvxo2gpr8vasl087q0sodttjwljo1czr

 Not to be argumentative or combative Xanth, but if you haven't experienced a exit from a bodily point of view then I can understand why it is hard for you to comprehend what I am saying here.

Not only do I experience OBEs from exit points. But each of these exit points seems to have it's own destination. OBEs from my feet/legs have always and still do today end up in a real time experience.

Exits from my head or what could be considered my 3rd eye area result in either downloads/uploads (that I have written here in the past about) or I will find myself in higher realm projections. In many of them I also find myself as a simple point of consciousness. I don't come to these conclusions from what someone else says. I experience them first myself, then I put the pieces of the puzzle together to come up with my own truths. Now I can understand why during my first years of non physical research I was told there to "just observe" all the time.

Many famous Authors have written about experiences from LDs, APs and OBEs. Some of those Authors refuse the notion that LDs are the same as OBEs, like Robert Peterson for one. It is true that in the end they are all considered to be or come from "non physical states of consciousness", as Stanislav Grof puts it. But I think we should entertain people's experiences and also their opinions on where it is we find ourselves through each individual entry. If anything, you could get a good chuckle from what is being said!

I find that my LDs are experienced in a parallel dimension, universe, multiverse, what ever title people seem to chose. I have come to this conclusion from 4 years now of logging my own personal Dream Journals and finding patterns within them.

I'm sure there are some other members that will join this conversation as well. It is long overdue.

The trouble is that the consciousness which experiences this stuff isn't really me as I am now. The me as I am, upon learning I am dreaming would stop and try to do astral stuff. The me in these lucid dreams is somehow incapable of even thinking about something else other than the task at hand. It is almost like there is a psychic barrier separating genuine thoughts from instinct.

I call that my "other personality". It does seems to be quite a bit different from my physical one here. It also seems to get me in some interesting quandaries over in the other realms. Many times I become aware right in the middle of a quandary. I then have to get my bearings and quickly adapt to the scenario at hand.

The problem is it's as "real" as this realm is. So your first instinct is to "go with the flow". Something needs to happen to "jolt" you enough to realize that this is in fact just a dream. That's why it's good to be aware of all DTs (dream triggers). When I log my nightly adventures in my Dream Journal, I also log all the DTs that I experienced. This helps me to be even more aware the next time they surface.

When I become aware I just control my actions in the scenario at hand. But I am doing it from a totally conscious state of mind. Many times I will first view the scene from a 3rd person point of view before I actually enter it as a active participant. This way I can get the basic plot of the scenario and begin to plot my next move in it.

I find that "thinking on your feet" is a very important attribute to have in the other realms. So is "common sense".